


Lost Souls

by WitheringFeniks



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: ;), Alternate Universe, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asriel Needs A Hug, Blood and Injury, Depression, Developing Relationship, F/F, F/M, Familiars, Female Frisk (Undertale), Firsk needs a hug, Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Magic, Magic-User Frisk (Undertale), Magical Tattoos, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, No More Resets (Undertale), Older Frisk (Undertale), References to Depression, SAVED Asriel Dreemurr, Sans (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Sans Machine, Scars, Self-Harm, Snowdin (Undertale), Souls, Temporary Character Death, The Core (Undertale), Time Skips, Verbal Frisk (Undertale), an AU sans cameo, magic is influenced by things someone hold close, stylistically short chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:49:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 11,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24911116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitheringFeniks/pseuds/WitheringFeniks
Summary: When San’s machine malfunctions, Frisk and Flowey are dragged in to it, landing in what Frisk’s concludes is a different plane.Now the only thing they’ve got to do is survive the creatures that roam the mirror Underground.Only they might not be as alone as they first thought…“Tra la la. Beware of the man who speaks in hands.”
Relationships: Alphys & Sans (Undertale), Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Asgore Dreemurr & Frisk & Toriel, Asriel Dreemurr & Frisk, Flowey & Frisk (Undertale), Frisk & Sans (Undertale), Frisk & Undyne (Undertale), Frisk/Sans (Undertale), Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), Sans & Undyne (Undertale)
Comments: 37
Kudos: 36





	1. All Things have a Beginning…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another story, but one I've been working on for a while. The idea wouldn't leave me alone so i started brainstorming and now it's a full story :')
> 
> Any mistakes are my own!
> 
> I'll be adding a cover soon...when I finish it...

_**Prologue:** All Things have a Beginning… _

.

.

.

There was once a Monster; a brilliant and intelligent monster.

That intelligent Monster became the Royal Scientist, learning and experimenting with all that captured his interest.

He sought to learn about DETERMINATION.

Sought to understand how humans could feel something so strongly and if Monsters could be like them.

…However…

Good things, no matter how much good intentions could be, could become disastrous.

Desire can cloud one’s mind.

The Monster was driven to almost insanity in his goal to experiment with DETERMINATION.

But one day…

He just vanished. Never to be heard or seen from again.

His name fading into nothing more than a memory that even then most would forget.

But that Monster fought to simply stop himself from ceasing to exist…

…That is until one child fell down into Underground…

It was that child, who strode through the Underground again and again in her drive for the perfect ending for everyone, that he could use to return to the plane of existence.

Now, he only needed her Soul.

So he will do what he must to bring her to him, to bring her to him so that he could harvest her Soul.

.

.

.

_“Tra la la. Beware of the man who speaks in hands.”_

.

.

.

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

Each step through the snow, Frisk’s boots sunk into the thin layer.

It was the only sound beside her breathing.

At first and for a long time, she had feared the silences that filled this world. But she learnt quickly that too much would attracted unwanted attention.

She huffed out a cloud into the chilly air of Snowdin.

A Snowdin so similar and yet so different…

The thought had her hesitate at the town sign. She stared down the path into the near distance. This one was so much smaller than…

Buildings older yet new, buildings that would one day be replaced by different ones. A familiar one here and there—the library, the inn. They just bore different faces at the time this snapshot was taken. It just made her long for the Snowdin she had known first. The familiar Christmas lights decorating the houses, the constant Christmas tree in the centre of town… Sans and Papyrus’s house…

Frisk sighed at the melodramatic turn of her thoughts.

It would never do her any good to linger on the thoughts of things long lost.

At this rate, she and Asriel would never escape from this plane of existence.

She shrugged her shoulders, adjusting the backpack on her back and pushed forward. Asriel would be expecting her back soon or he’d come hunting. She didn’t like to worry him unnecessarily.

Frisk refused to stop any other time during her journey through Snowdin.

.

.

.

The grand library was as warm as always. She smiled at the thought, sliding the bar across the door to lock it.

“I’m back!” she called absently into the seemingly endless building as she took a right into what they had made into their kitchen. The fire was burning steadily and Frisk sighed happily at the warmth seeping into her body after the journey through the snow.

She shrugged off her wet cloak, hanging it on a hook by the fire to dry it and slipped off the bag to set it on the table.

The delicious smell of stew tingled her nostrils and guessed that perhaps Asriel has used the remains of the rabbit they’d hunted the other day.

“I was beginning to think you’d had a run in.” Asriel appeared at the entrance, fur damp and Frisk assumed he’d taken a shower.

“Reminiscent.” Was all Frisk said and her companion nodded in acceptance.

“Stew should be ready anytime now, so if you’re hungry go ahead and take a bowl.”

“I will.” Frisk bobbed her head, grabbing a bowl and poured herself a helping.

…

“So.” He began once they’d finished their food. “Where’d you go today?”

“Just needed a walk.” Frisk shrugged, curling up under her blanket to stare into the crackling fire. “Needed the air.”

The Underground air wasn’t as fresh as above ground—Frisk craved that air a lot but the snowy area of Snowdin could mimic it the best instead of leaving it damp like Waterfall.

“Didn’t take Wisp?”

“Needed to stretch my legs.”

Asriel sighed heavily. “No luck then?”

A sigh of frustration. “No.” She ground her jaw. “No matter what I look for, there’s _nothing_. There’s no book in this damn library about travelling planes.”

Asriel stared at the turmoil on Frisk’s face for a long moment before casting his gaze to his lap. “Do you think we’ll have to make a visit to the lab?”

…

“Probably.” She whispered, hearing his cackling laughter like he was beside her.

_(“Welcome, I have been awaiting this moment for so long.”)_

[*You are filled with DREAD at the thought of the Laboratory.]


	2. The Rising Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The orange and yellow of the rising sun coloured her hand and yet Frisk felt no warmth. She clenched her fist, eyes watering as she bit back a desperate sob.
> 
> It had been weeks since they’d been stranded here in this…mirror Underground—but, it wasn’t really a mirror they’d discovered. Places and locations all so different from what both she and Flowey were used too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a character sheet for Frisk at the bottom. x

_**Chapter 1:** The Rising Sun... _

.

.

.

“hey kiddo.” Sans greeted and Frisk beamed happily up at him.

“Hi!”

He chuckled, throwing an arm round her shoulders as he led her into the house, the tips of his phalanges playing with Papyrus’ scarf that the younger brother had wrapped her up in earlier. “i was wondering when you’d decide to come in.”

She pouted up at him and chimed softly: “I like watching the clouds. You know, I thought you would too considering how lazy you are.”

Sans’ grin widened. “Nah, I’d probably just fall asleep and Pap would just call me a pile of lazybones again.”

Frisk hid her face into the scarf to hide her grin. Sans pinched her cheeks. “c’mon now, don’t go hiding that smile for me, kid.”

Embarrassed, Frisk just hid further into the scarf. This time Sans scratched her scalp lightly, ruffling her hair, as he chuckled but didn’t try and get her to smile up at him…

(Even after all this time, Frisk still had the habit of hiding as to not get caught smiling. He’d caught on _real_ quick during her first few attempts. He likes to think he’s one of the main reasons she’d come so far…)

.

.

.

(14-years-old)

The orange and yellow of the rising sun coloured her hand and yet Frisk felt no warmth. She clenched her fist, eyes watering as she bit back a desperate sob.

It had been weeks since they’d been stranded here in this…mirror Underground—but, it wasn’t really a mirror they’d discovered. Places and locations all so different from what both she and Flowey were used too. Snowdin was much more primitive then what she had come to know it as; Waterfall overgrown and falling apart; Hotland, the Laboratory and the Core were the only places she truly recognized…

…but that doesn’t even start on the few places that were not in the Underground. The thriving forest of surface trees with a sky of one shade of blue, leaving the area forever daytime just one of them.

They had been lucky to stumble upon this library of all places—the door had been nothing but a stone one not far into Waterfall from Snowdin. However inside had been a completely different sight.

Frisk had not believed such a magnificently designed library could exist. She was reminded of a palace by the large hallway and windows, the white and gold, the ceiling paintings depicting humans—mages, she quickly realised—using magic. This had to be a library during the time mages had existed, she’d awed.

There were more books than she possibly count, and at the end of the hallway was a large room with three-storey high bookcases, the chandelier that hung from the large done stain glass window…

She sighed, dropping her hand to instead just stare out at the rising sun peeking out from behind the trees. There was no way out there—it was like a film being projected, it wasn’t _real_.

Frisk turned her attention to the collection of books scattered around her form. She scanned over them absently, brain pulsing at even the thought of reading another word. She’d…learnt plenty about magic already—this was a mage library after all—but there was a difference from practical and theoretical as Sans liked to remind her during science lessons.

Her SOUL ached for him; ached to hear his puns and laughter.

Sans wasn’t the only one she longed to embrace—Mum, Dad, Papyrus, Undyne and Alphys…

Frisk ignored the burn that stung her nose and rubbed her exhausted eyes.

Grimacing as she shifted position, Frisk started bookmarking the pages and closing them. It would do her no good to keep reading with a headache when she could return without one and get more done.

Flowey popped up from a tile, rustling himself to straighten his petals before he turned his attention to her. He squinted against the sunlight but otherwise enjoyed it.

“I thought I would find you here.” He eyed her before turning back to the rising sun with a frown. “Why do you get up every morning to watch the damn sunrise?”

Smiling sadly, Frisk looked back out the window. “I miss feeling the sun on my skin, Flowey. This is the closest I can get to it.”

Flowey just looked confused at her devotion. “But you’re just torturing yourself by watching it…”

Frisk didn’t answer.

That was the thing about Frisk—Flowey could never really understand her actions half the time. Since the moment he’d met her to now, Frisk could always surprise him one way or another. Her current state of being the most recent. He’d have thought she would have lost it already with all they’ve been through the last two weeks.

He eyes her tore clothes knowing at this rate she would need ones. These ones were all but falling apart on her, she’d taken so much abuse already…

…The scars littering her body was proof enough…

…The healing bit mark on her torso the most recent one…

…He really didn’t under that DETERMINED SOUL of hers.

Flowey, knowing she wouldn’t say anything else on the topic of the sun by the tight crease at the corner of her eyes, instead decided to change the conversation direction.

“What’s up with the books?”

“Uh?” Frisk blinked and glanced back down at them, absently rubbing at her wounded side. “Oh. I was reading up on magic and the how-tos. We already know I have magic, so why not use that to our advantage?”

Flowey silently agreed with her line of thought. “Any progress?”

Flowey knew Frisk must have had magic to begin with if she had the ability to Save and Reset in the Underground. It was pretty obvious to those who remembered the Resets.

The Smiley Trashbag had made more than just a few hints about it during their time on the Surface. Flowey thought he might have been trying to see if it would be possible if Frisk could actually learn how to wield her powers.

However, Frisk hadn’t made any progress or given a hint that she could do anything other than cause a Reset and she had no plans to ever again.

Even if she wanted to now, they couldn’t…

…Her ability to cause a Load or even Reset had glitched upon their entrance to this plane, or Limbo as he’d taken to calling it.

That first day had only been one of the terrifying attacks since they arrived

…It had admittedly shaken him to the core—her screams still haunted him. The pure agony as she was mauled on…

“I think I know where to start.” Frisk replied happily. “Stuff like simple elemental spells. It’s easy to tell your magics preference with these ones.” She flipped open a red-covered book and pointed to a paragraph on the bookmarked page. “It seems since I have a DETERMINED SOUL, I might be more fire inclined than in comparison to KINDENESS’s water for healing.”

“Eh. Human magic is _so_ much more complicated then Monster.” Flowey complained.

Frisk tittered softly.

.

.

.

The soft crackling of fire stirred Frisk. She sighed and cracked her heavy lids open to see the fireplace lit and Flowey chucking another piece of timber into it.

She felt a flash of guilt at Flowey having to keep the fire going even when he was at the most danger of getting injured because of it.

Frisk rolled onto her back, blinking slowly up at the ceiling.

“Wake are we?” Flowey scowled. “How much sleep have you been getting? I know you humans need a certain amount to function properly.”

Frisk wet her dry lips and pushed herself up.

It wasn’t like she was intentionally going out of her way to avoid sleep—and yeah okay, she might be getting nightmares more often than not but she needed to learn to defend herself and Flowey in this damn world because if she ended up in the claws or mouth of one of the Hunters again, there was no death—just pure agony until they either grew board or whatever happened when they actually did the job they were created for…

She’d been lucky enough to have Flowey by her side but she can’t always count on him to be able to save her.

She had to save herself.

“I’m struggling too.” She answered truthfully. “So I’ve been putting time into reading.”

Flowey just sighed, rolled his eyes and gestured to the dead rabbit on the table. “Since you’re lazy ass was sleeping, I went out and got you a rabbit.”

Frisk gave a grateful smile but dreaded what was to come—skinning the rabbit to actually cook it. She’d thrown up the first time she’d done it but desperate times meant desperate measures.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know. I could have easily—”

“Shut your mouth.” Flowey glared. “Look, this is a partnership, got it? We’ve gotta work together and I know you’re queasy about killing those damn helpless animals. Besides, you slept the entire day and you haven’t eaten in almost forty-eight hours. You’d just get distracted. I don’t wanna listen to you get mauled on if we get noticed.”

Frisk took Flowey’s passive-aggressiveness at face value.

.

.

.

Frisk has always enjoyed silence more than sound growing up because it meant neither of her birth parents had been there, either passed out from too much alcohol or out drinking too much alcohol. It was always better when they were drunk, they forgot about her most of the time; it was when they were sober that they turned their aggression onto her.

Even now, almost a year after having known the Monsters and freeing them, she still preferred silence despite how she’d become accustom to sound. Don’t misinterpret that as Frisk finding interacting with people a chore, because it wasn’t! She enjoyed her new family, she loves them! But something about silence was better because sometimes silence could beat words by a mile.

You didn’t always need to speak to show the obvious.

It was why she enjoyed the quiet hobbies the most.

It was why she got along with Sans surprisingly well, they both enjoy the finer things—moments people would miss because they’re always moving.

In those quiet moments, it was like nothing existed but what was happening. Frisk cherished these moments; held them close to her SOUL to remind her of what she has now. What she couldn’t bear to lose or cause suffering too.

The only reason she’d come to Mount Ebott was because she hadn’t wanted to live anymore—she had no direction, no will… no nothing to keep her feet firmly on this earth.

But falling down the pit into the Underground had ironically been the greatest thing to have ever possibly happened to her.

Now when those thoughts hit her, Frisk likes to remind herself of what she had built for herself.

Which was why, no matter what, she would get Flowey and herself home.

Whatever it takes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/162867732@N02/50093459861/in/dateposted/)   
> 


	3. Running with the Wolves...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The snarls and monstrous sounds of the Hunters echoed behind her.
> 
> She had been too foolish, too idiotic, too reckless.
> 
> Frisk knew she shouldn't have ventured so far out into the Endless Forest, but she couldn't help it! She had to know what was out there!
> 
> But she'd faced the consequences of such a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING:
> 
> This chapter includes self-harm and a mental breakdown!
> 
> This story will have more of these sort of chapters, and they be shorter chapters (unless they happen in the middle of one) because they will be the main focus. But I will be putting a warning for whenever this happens.
> 
> I've never written something to this extent before, but I want to show just how much Frisk is and has suffered.

_**Chapter 2:** Running with the Wolves... _

17 years old

.

.

.

_huff huff_

_crunch crunch crunch_

_huff huff_

_crunch crunch crunch_

_huff huff_

_crunch crunch crunch_

_huff huff_

_crunch crunch—_

Frisk gasped for breath, lungs burning as she sucked in the cold air of Snowdin. Heart pounding and desperation filling her veins, she ran for her life.

The snarls and monstrous sounds of the Hunters echoed behind her.

She had been too foolish, too idiotic, too _reckless_.

Frisk knew she shouldn't have ventured so far out into the Endless Forest, but she couldn't help it! She had to know what was out there!

But she'd faced the consequences of such a decision.

A howl and her heart sank; those were the sounds they made when they found something.

Almost...

she..

was..

almost..

to...

_..._ _agony_.

She screamed as teeth sank into her leg, pulling her into the wet snow. She cried and kicked, the adrenaline blocking the pain as she fought against the Hunter. She felt her flesh tear under the vice grip jaw.

Eyes burning, Frisk shoved her hands at the beast and ignited her hands, the beast howled in pain, successfully releasing her leg,

Frisk, momentarily stunned shock still as the pain slowly began to set in, shook and shook and shook, but then, she rolled over, pushed herself to her feet and—

_—ran._

Half out of her mind in pure pain, Frisk just ran, body in full control of where she was going and she found herself seeking shelter in a Snowdin building, one Flowey and her had briefly set up shop in to hide from the Hunters.

It was bare but _safe_.

She collapsed onto the cold floor, body spasming as she went in shock. She rocked and arched her back on that cold floor for a long time, suffering and muffling her cries as she slowly bled out.

Cold, cold, cold.

In and out of consciousness...

Small, insignificant wounds healing almost instantly...

And Frisk was left to suffer in silence.

.

.

.

..

...

Silence...

Frisk lethargic blinked crusty and heavy eyes open.

She took a breath, held it, and exhaled, watching the warm air form a white cloud.

Another blink.

Her leg throbbed endlessly.

Her right toes twitched; it pulled at the wound on her upper leg.

Frisked licked her lips and rolled onto her side, her entire body protested, aching and one big bruise but this gave her the chance to inspect...

She giggled, and soon that giggle turned into laughter as she shook and tears endlessly spilt from her eyes.

Frisk sucked in a breath, curling in on herself as she laughed and as she reached the end of her breath, sobbed helplessly.

Why?

Why did it have to be her?

Why couldn't she just _die_?

She scratches and scratched at her skin in a hopeless endeavour to free herself from her endless suffering.

Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Wh _y?Why?Why?Why?Why?WHY?_

As she cried, as she laughs harder, her chest grows tight as bile rose in her throat.

Her stomach seizing as her body lurched to bring whatever was in her stomach up, spilling onto the blood-stained concrete.

She giggled again...

.

.

..

...

Frisk went quiet; she went deathly still.

She licked her lips, not caring at the taste of vomit in her mouth.

She lay there for a long time.


	4. S̸̘͔̻̩͇͂͋̅́̏̏T̶͎͉͈͎͉̰̀̍A̷̹̼̲͈̣͗Ỹ̶̜̫͆ ̶̧͎̝͚͊͆͊̋̌͜͝D̵̛̦̯̟̽̋̾́̓͜Ȩ̷̱̥̓̑̐̐̕T̸̮͓̳͓̥̃̎͗̉̃̇E̵̢̙̍̓͗̄ͅR̶̛̦̼̼̘͕͙͐̀͝͝M̸̢̏͌̆͛͌͝I̷̡̢̞̥̩̟͑͌̂N̶̪̾̐̈́̅̌̒͜E̵̡̻̩͇͔̭̅́̒̋͛D̴̢̬̺̪͖̑͘

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flowey gently tightening his gip at her uneven breathing because for him actions meant more than words. He watched her from his position curled around her arm.
> 
> …This time it was his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Attempted suicide.
> 
> This chapter is mostly from Flowey's POV, haven't had him yet but at the every end it will switch, so if you're not comfortly reading that sort of thing, stop at: "Frisk stared at the seemingly bottomless pit"

**_ Chapter 3: _ ** _S̵̭͔̔̓̏̿̆̏̇͛̈̊̿t̵̟̰̝̺͚̼͍͍̟̝͕̽̈͆̀̓̒͐̔̋͛͜͝ä̸̡̠̹̗̫̼̺͕̦́͋͛͋͊̓͂͒̈́͋̈͒̕͝ͅỷ̶̫͉̰͙̖͇̪͔̙͚́̓̃̈́͌̔̔̅̍̚̕ ̴̗̪̭̓̂̚Ḑ̴̥̜̞̬̲͉̿͐̾Ę̷̢̜͈̫̜͈̻̱̭͓̩̠̺͚͑̆̊̈́͊͛͋͒̏̔͘̚͝͝T̶͈̹̗̯͑Ĕ̵̡̡̦̥͖̣͓̙̓̽͊̐̅͒͆̈́̾̓̂͆͠R̴̡̢̲̹͕̟̹̭̰͈̬̗̈́̐͗̐̔̌̄͗̒̃̓͘͝M̵̙̃̃̇͘Ỉ̷̛̜̓̀̊N̸͚̼̖͚̥̦͙̙̽̄̊̅͋̂̽̈́̑͑̚͘͜͝Ę̷̨̖͍̱̿D̴̘͐̇̄͌͋͘!̴̱̺͙̤͚̿̈́͐ͅͅ_

[16 years old]

.

.

.

_clip-clop, clip-clop_

_clip-clop, clip-clop_

_clip-clop, clip-clop_

_clip-clop, clip-clop_ _…_

Wisp slowly walked their way through Waterfall and Frisk took the chance to revel in the pain on her face, burning like fire. She sucked in a breath and physically fought against the desire to scrunch her face up in her pain knowing it would only make it worse for her.

Flowey gently tightening his gip at her uneven breathing because for him actions meant more than words. He watched her from his position curled around her arm.

…This time it was his fault.

He had been purposefully antagonizing towards her to the point neither of them had been paying attention and they’d gotten jumped.

His petals wilted at the thought, the guilt stewing inside as he opened his mouth to apologize and yet nothing comes out. He’d been trying for days now and Frisk was still being frosty with him, comments clipped and far in between.

It made the guilt worse.

At this point, the only upside was this Limbo had healed her eye so she hadn’t lost sight in it… but that was it, the large wounds on her face were inflamed and—Flowey worried they were infected, a wound like this couldn’t be bandaged and they didn’t have much in the way of a first aid kit…

And that was why…

Frisk exhaled, body limp as she was lulled in a doze with Wisp’s gently movements.

..that was why they were travelling to the Lab.

It was a stupid idea—an incredibly moronic one but…

But they didn’t know what else to do. If they could find some sort of medkit to help then Frisk didn’t need to suffer anymore, this was one of the worst yet and—Flowey listened to the soft wheezy breaths she took, the soft pained moans she tried to stifle.

Frisk had grown used to pain long before they ended up in this place—she’d died plenty of times within the Underground, and Flowey had managed to learn from passing comments she didn’t have to best childhood either.

At this point, Flowey had the feeling the only reason she wanted to leave was so she could just—

The thought ~~frightens~~ worries him, he knows she’s tried to before. He’d seen a breakdown after a Reload had happened—Undyne, if he recalled correctly.

But when they get out, he doesn’t want to be the only one to have known how they suffered—the thought she’d take the easy road made him angry…

…maybe that was why he’d been purposefully antagonizing as of late, his thoughts had been dwelling on their hopeful eventual escape and the thought that Frisk would just _off_ herself made him so— _angry_.

Because how dare she think only of herself?

What about him? Did she think about him in her private moments of wishing for death?

He’d never verbally admit it hurt him…

But he also knows that truly, he does not know Frisk.

He can’t connect with her the way he’s been longing too…

He’s just a soulless Monster…

.

..

…

That was why Frisk had been looking into Mage research into Souls and—impossibly—she discovered that Mages had learnt how to bring the dead back as long as they were recently deceased because Soul fragments would linger until decomposition would start—for Humans and beings not made of magic anyway.

Frisk was— _hopeful_.

Hopeful that in his instance that because he had a body, he must have Souls fragments lingering—even after all this time…

But to bring back the dead, one must share a portion of one's souls…

Frisk had to offer up _a piece of her_ _Soul_ to bring him back…

It wasn’t that simple either—it was more than just offering one's soul.

Trust.

Love.

Willingness.

Flowey doubted they’d be successful because of look at them.

_Look at them._

He wants to laugh bitterly.

.

.

.

Frisk stared at the seemingly bottomless pit—the darkness swallowed anything thrown in in a matter of seconds…

She took a breath and edged forward, heart pounding away…

This was it.

She was going to do it…

Frisk spared one more glance over her shoulder to Ebott City, the setting sun lit the busy city in an orange and red glow…

She turned completely to watch the sun.

Da-dump, da-dump.

A shaky breath…

A step back…

Da-dump, da-dump—

Frisk always herself to tilt backwards, eyes sliding closed, a smiling gracing her lips and she—

F

E

L

L

.

.

.

Frisk did not expect to wake up.

She didn’t want to wake up—

And yet, here she is laying on a patch of golden yellow flowers.

Her body ached.

Her head pulsed painfully.

But—she was _alive_.

No…

_No._..

_No, this couldn’t_ —

Why was she not allowed to find freedom?

_~~Why couldn’t she just die?~~ _

__

[̴̪̰̰̦̆̓̏͑̂̂̆̚͝Ÿ̸̩͈͎̫̠͖̫͔͎̗̺̬͗̎͋̐̓̚ó̸̪͚̘̤̈͛͐̈̉̽̾͆͌̓̉͝ư̸̛̭̐́̍̌̆͊̋̊̆̕͘͝ ̶̛͇̳̟̹̾̂͐̔̾̏̿̕̚̕͝͠ͅm̶̝̲̬͖̰͕̘̜̟̳̫̍̀̈́͛̇̃͛͘̚u̵̘̞̾̃̔̀̕͠s̶̰̺̦̲͙̒̌̃̐͆͒͠͝t̵̢̤͎̖̬͇͙̞̬̺̙̺̾͌̅̓̆̏̇̇̃͘ͅņ̸̗̲̟͔̜̫͍̠̬̯̈͌̉͗͛͛̋̈́̓͜ͅ'̵̡͙̞̳͙̙̗̻̥̎̄̈́̾ṫ̵̢̤̝̌͂̕ ̶̖̯̰̇̀̉̓̉͂̓́̕͠͝g̸̪̜͓̹̜̘̰̻̗̍̽̏̓̆̅͌̃̑̆̄̕į̴̢̛͇̱̺̭̲̖͕̣̯̓͑̍̅͑͆̉͛͘̕͝v̸̡̨̭̥̫̬̗̜̼̭͓̳̙̯̐͆̔̌͑͒͊̕̕͠ͅē̶̡̛̗̲͓͍͂̇̔̃̊̋̇̊̚͝ ̷̡̨̼͖̺̖͕̰̙͖͇̞̾̒̓̒̄̓̂̆͂̉͐̍̉ų̴̗̭̞̘͎̭̓̓̉̈́̈́̃̒̓̔̃͘͝p̷̨̧̳̯̟̫̦͇͕̲̻͔̭̽̑̅́͗̈̎̌̃ͅ ̶͙̹̹̙̻̣̠͖̫͉̟͉͗̆͊͒̈́͊̐H̸̲̱̱̘̥͌͌̓̇̐̒͋̎̂Ọ̴̥̭͙̭̾̓̚͜P̸̡̭̤̖̠͚̦͎̮̍̿͗͋̉͊̋͘̚͜Ë̷̼̺͓̹͓̠̹̣̜̭̫̲͓͇̥́̃̽͆̊͌̓̓͑͆̎̾̏!̸̨̤͚̗͈̓̇̾͒́̇̆̾́̍̀͊̕͘͝ ̷̨̗̯̹̅͛̈́̿̔S̵̭͔̔̓̏̿̆̏̇͛̈̊̿t̵̟̰̝̺͚̼͍͍̟̝͕̽̈͆̀̓̒͐̔̋͛͜͝ä̸̡̠̹̗̫̼̺͕̦́͋͛͋͊̓͂͒̈́͋̈͒̕͝ͅỷ̶̫͉̰͙̖͇̪͔̙͚́̓̃̈́͌̔̔̅̍̚̕ ̴̗̪̭̓̂̚Ḑ̴̥̜̞̬̲͉̿͐̾Ę̷̢̜͈̫̜͈̻̱̭͓̩̠̺͚͑̆̊̈́͊͛͋͒̏̔͘̚͝͝T̶͈̹̗̯͑Ĕ̵̡̡̦̥͖̣͓̙̓̽͊̐̅͒͆̈́̾̓̂͆͠R̴̡̢̲̹͕̟̹̭̰͈̬̗̈́̐͗̐̔̌̄͗̒̃̓͘͝M̵̙̃̃̇͘Ỉ̷̛̜̓̀̊N̸͚̼̖͚̥̦͙̙̽̄̊̅͋̂̽̈́̑͑̚͘͜͝Ę̷̨̖͍̱̿D̴̘͐̇̄͌͋͘!̴̱̺͙̤͚̿̈́͐ͅͅ]̷̧̼͙̤̤̙͕̞͇̜̟̱͇̗͛͒̿̃̀̅̽̉̐͝ͅ


	5. Pilgrimage…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :)

**_ Chapter 4 _ ** _ : Pilgrimage… _

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.

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Once upon a time, there was a child.

A child who was meant to be sheltered from the harsh reality of the world; was meant to have been guided; was meant to have been _loved_ …

But alas, this child received none of these things a parent should lovingly gift. Instead, they were treated to cruelly from a young age, suffered at the hand of the ones that should love them.

.

.

.

Frisk had always been a quiet child. She learnt from an extremely young age to either be silent or get a backhand. Some might even say it was engraved into her very Soul the moment she was born.

Her quiet demeanour, her old, baggy and ripped at the seam clothes got laughter and mockery from other children; from children too young to understand and from children that should know better.

Teachers turned a blind eye to her torment…

But Frisk—

Silently hurting and her Soul crying out for help went unheard…

Eventually, she grew used to this reality because—

[*You cry out for help, for attention, for _love_ ]

[*But nobody came]

She had no one.

No one that would care for her.

Frisk grew to understand this more and more as she matured, as her mind could comprehend _why_ no one loved her.

She was a mistake—an unwanted child from a woman who hated her husband and so took it out on the child that had only made her situation worse.

She was a failure from the moment she was born—a disappointment for a man who had wanted a son, a man that looked down on woman, who saw Frisk as inferior and unworthy of his attention, let alone love.

There was no lost love there, Frisk understood from a young age—she didn’t want their love, didn’t want to love them. But it didn’t mean she wouldn’t dream of What Ifs—what if they _had_ loved her?

She would laugh bitterly at the thought—Margret and Liam, _love her_?

Death wasn’t a foreign thing to young Frisk—

In fact, Frisk craved the release it would give her and so at age fourteen, Frisk jumped to her Death—

[*You mustn’t give up HOPE! Stay DETERMIND!]

—but Death did not come.

Rather, Death showed her what life could be.

Death showed her what a mother’s love should feel like.

Death showed her what friendship feels like.

Death showed her that she shouldn’t allow others to drag her down…

And Death gave her a family.

A family Frisk adored and loved and—

.

.

.

“hey.” Frisk tore her eyes after from the sunset to face the skeleton and made an inquisitive noise. “heh, you know for a long moment, i didn’t think you’d be able to pull it off.”

Frisk smiled weakly, exhausted and yet _so_ _full_ of energy. She didn’t know what to say because this had always been about her friends' happiness. She might have gone through a growth during her time in the Underground but what was most important had always been those that had helped her—they deserved their chance at freedom, at true happiness.

Her own came secondary, she knew who she was.. knew her worth in this world…

 _This_ had been her purpose in life. This was why she had been born and finally, she had set the Monsters free.

She had done what she had been destined too—she could rest.

She could finally get her needed rest.

A chapter to a new life, one full of LOVE and HOPE and so much to look forward too.

Sans exhaled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close and bumping his teeth against her scalp. “you did good, kiddo.” His grip tightened and Frisk sucked in a shaky breath, eyes burning. “i know how much this means to you, and i’m so proud.”

Frisk buried her face into his jacket, arms wrapping around his waist to hide her momentary weakness from him in the disguise of happiness.

 _I’m no one worth being proud of, Sans_ , she smiled sardonically, _but that’s okay, my happiness means nothing to me as long as I know you're happy because you deserve this so,_ so _much. After all this time, after all these Resets, you still don’t know how much I care about you—how much I love you and I want it to stay like that…_

_…because I’m just a disgusting broken human…_

_…because I don’t deserve love of my own…_

_…because I’m not worth loving…_


	6. Forever Entangled...

**_ Chapter 5: _ ** _ Forever Entangled..._

[16 years old]

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“̷̡͓̱̻͈̬̤̋G̸̨̘̺̹͙͇͎͔͕̑̑̍̀́̇͆̓͗̌͜ͅr̴̪͕̞͉̹̝̦͊͂̊͛̅ͅȇ̵̬̗̘͙͌̕e̸̛̩̯͍̝͉͚̿̄̔̈́̆́̔̉̆̏͑̉͠t̷̢̧̤͇͕͕̠̖̝̳͕̖̺͍̝̉̊͋͐̂̌̈͂̂͆̎̊̂́̑͐͐į̷̢̗̺͎̱̻̥̃͒̈́̿͒̈́̇͝n̷̟̽͜ģ̶̝͇̹̖̻̠̈͆͋͜ş̴̡͙̜͓̜̱͉̻̦̹̙̞͍̬̠̩͂͒̃͌̂̌̑̔͐͒̽͋.̷̳̄͗͂̊̀́̾͛͋͛̽͋̍̾”̵̨͕̪͍͇̼̦̼̯͔̭̩̗̙͚͇̼͒̀͛͑̓̈́̌̓

_“You!”_

_“Gah!”_

_“Frisk!”_

_Laughter…_

_Screaming…_

_“FRISK!”_

_She—won't—allow—him—to—steal—her—Soul!_

Agony

Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithu _rtsithurtsithurtsithurts_ —

~~Hurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurts~~ —

WhymewhywhywHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWH _YWHYWHYWHYWHY_ —

“FRISK!”

She writhed in excruciating martyrdom—

“̶̢̢̳̗̞͍̝͈̰̭̖̥͙͇̖̮̏͗̂͒͗͋̂̐̿̐͝͠͝Y̴̩͎͓̍̓͒͊́̈́̑͑͠͠e̵̛͇̫̅͑̀̓̃̅̊̋̔͘̕š̷̛͕͚̈́̇̑̆̈́͋̕͝,̴̭̐ ̵͉̻̭͖̳̞̲̉̾̚g̶̡͈̺͕̗̦̪̀̇͛̑̒͋͆̄̕̚͜͜ͅì̵͉͚̜͍̅̆̉̿͋͂ͅv̷͖̻͕̻̓̔͑͆́̊͂̾͠͠e̸̞͍͙̙̯̭̳͉̝̝͎͇̎͌͑̾̾̈́͂͒͗̉̀̊̕ ̴̱̩̙̝̟̟̞̮͒̂̓̈i̴̢̩͚͍̲̯̖͖͇͎̳̙̜̮͆͒̇́̑͗͂̄̂̐̊̿̌͆͠ͅͅţ̴̢̹̼͎̰̯̹͔͎͈͓̪͈͐̊͘͜ ̷̢̬̥̦̖͚̦̦̪͇̙͛ͅt̴́̂̐́ͅo̷̢̻̰͇̦̩̱͈̓̊̒͊͛͗̈́̅͑̔͋̔̑̀͊ ̷̮̞̖̃͛̔̈̚m̵̡̛̪̩̯̥̽̂̾͋̄̍̀̿̕e̵̢̢̢̱̹̙̗̮͍̙̞̤̖̘͉͙̱͑͑̍̾̌!̸̧̪̱̯̻̘̦̻͍̦̫͔̪̫̮̪̄”̸̧̣͓̻̮͚̮̭̼̪͇̱͓̺̮̒̊̎̑̀̑̂͒͐̍̽̇̚̚

~~Sanspleaseshelpmesanssanssanssanssanssanssanssanssanssans!~~

~~Whereareyou?~~

~~Whyaren’tyouhere?~~

~~Please…ineedyou…~~

“You! Wont! Have! Her! Soul!”

~~Asriel?~~

Flowey?

[“To bring back the dead is by no means an easy task. Not only does the deceased have to be fresh enough to not yet have started decomposition, but there must be will behind the magic. The Mage must _want_ , must _yearn_ , must _believe_. But most importantly, they must **_love_**.”]

[“Do not do such a spell with reckless abandon. There are consequences, sacrifices, with this spell. Because to bring back the deceased, one must offer a piece of one’s Soul.”]

[“The deterioration of one’s mental state is but one side effect, displayed often in both failed and successful attempts. One must have the DETERMINATION prevail.”]

[“ **DETERMINATION is not to be taken lightly**.”]

You. Will. Never. Have. My. Soul.

.

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.

(What was that?)

.

.

.

“̶̟̯͉͍͓̞̬̭̞͖̯̟̅͋W̸͌̉͌͑̿̒͘ͅh̴̖͉̠͔̣̠͈̤̿̈́̓̓̋̋̇̍̒̎͒͒̑͑̚͝a̶̱̭͍͖͈̼̱̩̔̂̽ͅt̶̹͇͈̏̋̓̀̎̅̚̚͝͝͠ ̷̨͇̺̹̟̹͔̬̣̙̯̓ͅȁ̷͕͍͓̹̞̻͍̘͍̼̗̰̘͑̉̐́͒̕̕ŗ̵̨̛̝̺̠͉̘̻̟͕͙̜͔̀̋e̶̛͓̅̄͒̂̑̈́̆͛̌́̑͝͝ ̴̲̤̱̬̺̬̟̰̬̺̭̬̘͙͉̬͂̏̔̈̌͌̓͗͜y̴̟̥̪̫̜͚̖̪͎͖͂͗̇͌͌̔̏̆̔͑̅͊̅̎ͅǫ̶͍͉̲̲̥͚͕̤̬̝̃̓͜ŭ̷̢̥͙̭̝̼̤̥̖̺͙̖̙̟̬̈́͑̄͜ ̴̧̢̡̪͓̤̠̗͓̜̼͕̳̤̫͈̄̇̍͑͗̄͘͠d̵͕̲̦̿́̃̽̓̌̊̾̈͊̆͑̂͝ͅõ̶̥͇̖̬͔̠͍̣̰͇̏͐̋͌̃̀͝͝͝ͅi̶̧̧̧̬̲̩̪͈̯̦͈͙̤͓̗̓̉͑͝n̷̥̭̱̥͔̠̘͐̎̆̾̃̐̂͛ͅg̷̢̬̹̬̱̫͚̓̐?̶̜͉͖̤̺̙̗̟̻͚̘̫͐̽̎̉̆”̶̪̼͚͔̠̱͚̹̯̥͖̆̉̈́̀ͅ

Screaming—

Shouting—

Yelling—

“FRISK!”

“NO!”

[*Your DETERMINATION is strong, kid.]

[*Are you sure you wanna do this?]

[…Yes…]

[*You don’t sound certain?]

[I am.]

[*This is the path you chose? To forevermore be bound to him, to become his kin, to—]

[I know what doing this means.]

[*How pushy… I like it.]

[…Who are you?]

[*Heh, you could call me a friend if you like.]

[…and your name?]

[*n̵̜̟̙̼͚̉̇͒̊̂͐͌̕a̸̖̘̳͕̭͛̈́̓͜͝m̶͈̈́̔͋̿̚͝͠e̴̘͓͇͗͂̄́͘͝'̷̨̬̤̙̦̬̺͎̑͗̃͌͒͋̄̊s̸̱̤̬͎͖̄̉̐̽͒͆̿̅͘ͅ ̵̖̜̦͔̋͋̑́́̏I̸͉̅̋ͅn̶̛̮͇̩̈́͌̏ķ̶̢̢̦̮͍͎͛̀̇]

[[̵̖̜̦͔̋͋̑́́̏I̸͉̅̋ͅn̶̛̮͇̩̈́͌̏ķ̶̢̢̦̮͍͎͛̀̇?]

[*…You sound skeptical, how rude.]

[…You sound like—]

[*I know, sweetheart. It’s a long story.]

[*I don’t know what the future holds, but I doubt we’ll speak again. So I wish you the best of luck, Frisk.]

Frisk screamed—

.

.

.

—and Asriel breathed.

“̸̼͙̬̱̞̄͌Ḩ̷̛͍͕̜̟̓̾̆͌͛͛̔́̍̇̆͘O̷͈͐̈́̏̿̈́͗͌̈́͋̕͝W̶̧̟͇̘̺̌̓͝ ̷̺̠̫̠̱̟͌̒̇̈́͗͋̎̕͝D̶̨̖̯̘̼̬̿̄͝Å̷̀̈́̐̌͜R̵̡̺̦̊̈́̏̌͑͊̍̄͛͛̓͆̐̍͘̚͘È̷͇̩̍̈́̒̔̿̔ͅ ̵̤̟̥͕̪͓͇͉̉̑͂̈́̈Ÿ̷̡̡̛̯̞̪͓͍͉͙͙̺̼̩̩̪̺́̊͐̽̈́̇̊͊͜͝͝Ơ̴̞̠̞̝̗͈͈͕̣͔͌̑̃̂̄̒̈́͐̅́̓̚͘Ų̶̛̙̫̱̘͖̻̹̦͛͛̂̑̈́͗̅̇̾̎̎̉̕͝!̸̣̘͚̤̒̾̎̃͐̑͒̊͌̈́̊͒̽͝͝”̴̧̭͇̦̮̞̰͖̩̺͖̤͇͎̠̭̮̓


	7. The Other Side…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally some from the other side ;)
> 
> Some Sans
> 
> Some Papyrus
> 
> and some Alphys

**_ Chapter 6: _ ** _ The Other Side… _

.

.

.

“Alphys!”

“What happened!”

“Where’s Frisk?! Flowey?!”

“Sans!”

“Brother!”

“i don’t know—”

“T—The ma—machine! It—it was the machine! It went crazy!”

“Why on Earth were you messing around with that thing!”

“tor—toriel!”

“I demand you tell me exactly what happened!”

I—I’m sorry, kid.

This is all my fault…

_(“Sans!” she screamed, eyes wide with terror.)_

.

.

.

No matter what they did—they couldn’t find out what had gone _wrong_.

They couldn’t find _what had turned the machine on in the first place_.

And…and Sans had no idea what he was supposed to do—

 _Her eyes,_ he choked; he couldn’t get over the terror he’d seen in her eyes seconds before she and Flowey had been sucked through the portal. He wheezed, gasping for breath and clutched at his chest in agony— _why_.

“BR—BROTHER?”

Sans squeezed his sockets closed at Papyrus’s nervous voice. He couldn’t look his brother in the eyes—not after what he had caused.

Movement…

Shuffling…

Papyrus settled beside his brother in front of the machine.

For a long time neither skeleton said anything….then…

“it’s all my fault…”

“BROTHER.” Papyrus immediately started but Sans cut him off.

“it is. if i hadn’t brought the blasted thing up then Frisk wouldn’t be _who knows where_ —probably _fucking terrified_ for her life!” Sans wanted to scream to the heavens about how unfair his fucking life was—how unfair _Frisk’s_ life was. Why couldn’t either of them have boring quiet lives after everything that had happened?

Papyrus said nothing for a beat.

“PLEASE DON’T BLAME YOURSELF.”

Sans snarled.

“SANS. FROM THE DATA YOU AND ALPHYS HAVE COLLECTED AND CAN SEE, NEITHER OF YOU TURNED THE MACHINE ON. NIETHER OF YOU ARE AT FAULT. AL…ALPHYS BELIEVES THERE WAS SOMETHING ELSE AT PLAY…FROM—FROM THE DATA SHE’S REVIEWED SO FAR ANYWAY.”

He exhaled, body tense, phalanges curling and wanting to sink into something to tear it apart.

“PLEASE GO UPSATIRS AND EAT, SHOWER EVEN AND AT LEAST TRY AND SLEEP. WEARING YOURSELF OUT LIKE THIS ISN’T GOING TO HELP ANYONE. NYEH… WE BOTH KNOW FRISK WOULDN’T WANT YOU TO WORK YOURSELF TO EXHAUSTION.”

Sans wants to snap at Papyrus for mentioning Frisk but—he took a breath—he…he had a point.

Like someone had cut his strings, Sans slumped over and failed to bite back his sob— _he was so pathetic._ But he didn’t care.

Papyrus squeezed Sans shoulder and gently guided his brother from the basement.

.

.

.

Alphys didn’t understand how any of this data was possible.

It was like—but…but that was impossible…right?

There couldn’t be another machine on the other end…

Sans would’ve told them about it already, wouldn’t he?

He would. Especially at how distraught and broken he acted after the entire thing went down…

But something wasn’t adding up.

And Alphys intended to get to the bottom of it—

—and _soon_.


	8. Habitual…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An estimate of seven chapters left, that might shorten or lengthen (probably the former) but we're slowly reaching the climax ;)
> 
> We get to see some fighting this chapter!

**_Chapter 7:_** _Habitual…_

[18 years old]

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.

.

Frisk silently jerked awake, hammock swaying this way and that from all the sudden movement. With a heavy blink, Frisk shook her head and stood with a stretch that crack her joints.

Of course, she’d dream about the Lab again…

Oddly enough, it was her odd encounter that she’d remembered, so at least it wasn’t a nightmare. She still wondered to this day just who [̵̖̜̦͔̋͋̑́́̏I̸͉̅̋ͅn̶̛̮͇̩̈́͌̏ķ̶̢̢̦̮͍͎͛̀̇ is; she sighed.

.

.

The remains of last night’s fire was just embers now and Frisk quickly fixed that, gently adding more logs to encourage it to grow once more.

She eyed the still sleeping Asriel but let him sleep, instead focused on making breakfast for them.

Her palms ached, the red tattoos having made them swollen but thankfully that was it, they were healing perfectly. It made Frisk grin excitedly; she couldn’t wait to test the enhancers out.

To think Mages had created a way to enhance their base magic with simple tattoos! Albeit, more than just ink was required to make them, but the library was more than just a storage for books.

Her grin turned wicked at the thought of all the gems just waiting for her to use. She’d barely made a dent in all the years they’d been here. If they ever got out of this limbo plane, Frisk knew she’d be taking them—although she also knew how to power the gems too.

Books were oh-so helpful.

She sighed dreamily.

.

.

.

“Argh!” Asriel was forced to drop his blade as he went flying, skidding in the dirt from the direct attack.

Frisk winced sheepishly before jogging after him, Asriel sat up at her approached. She heard him grumble and snickered, she got the sink eye.

Frisk offered her hand and Asriel let her pull him to his feet where he brushed himself down but it didn’t do much and—

Frisk knew they both needed a bath, they were covered in mud and sweat. However that was the exact reason they’d come out to the Green Forest—it had a river running through it. Clear and fresh water compared to Waterfall with glowing blue.

.

.

She stripped and stepped in with little fuss, her brother falling shortly. A soft groan escaped at the chilly river but at this point, it was a welcome chill—they’d worked up quite the sweat during their sparring.

Asriel hummed as they washed and Frisk slowed to a stop.

_(Mum hummed a merry tune as she prepared the pie for baking.)_

Frisk shakily let out a breath—now wasn’t the time…

She hurried her bath along.

.

.

.

There was a howl.

“Ready?” Asriel questioned.

“When aren’t I?” she quipped back.

They shared a grin before facing forward when a Hunter burst through the treeline, headed straight for them, eyes red and drool escaping its mouth.

Three…

Two…

One…

They leapt to the side, allowing the Hunter to run straight passed them and skid through the snow in an attempt to stop.

Frisk moved first, hands licking with flames as she threw several fireballs at the beast to distract it as Asriel ran from behind.

Frisk jumped into the air, pushing magic into the leap to throw herself high up and out of the reach of the deadly row of teeth. Asriel gave a war cry and slashed all the way across its side, disturbing the black mass that made up the beast before with one final swing cracked the gem in its forehead.

The gem hit the ground, black mass vanishing.

Frisk landed and forward rolled back to her feet, jogging to Asriel’s side where they shared a fist bump and grinned.

“You’re getting good at this.”

He laughed humbly, rubbing the back of his head. “Thanks. Your confidence in me helps a lot.”

The corner of Frisk’s eyes crinkled softly, _heh, that doesn’t have anything to do it with._

There was another howl.

“Again?”

“You get the honours this time.” Asriel bowed playfully.

“Why thank you, kind sir.” She curtsy.

They snickered but sobered up when the approaching Hunter got to the treeline in the same fashion as the previous one.

This time, however, Frisk took hold of the golden lasso on her hip and activated her magic, feeling the way it travelled down her arms, into her hands, through the tattoos and finally powering the lasso, causing it to glow the colour of her magic: golden orange.

Asriel gave her space but held his blade at the ready.

She jumped into the air, twirling and moved instinctively, the lasso following her mental commands—commands that flew by in a matter of milliseconds. It wrapped around the Hunter’s neck and her feet hit the ground.

The beat yelped and choked, sending the thing scrambling at the sudden chokehold. Snow was kicked up and—Frisk pulled, the Hunter hit the ground and she set the lasso alight and listened to the beast cry out in pain. The black mass writhed and tried to flee the flames but failed to do so—body to corporal to make an escape.

She rushed forward and jumped again, stomping down on its head, hearing the gem cracking. The mass vanished just like the previous.

For a second, Frisk caught her breath, rolled the lasso up and hooked it on her hip before turning to a grinning Asriel.

“I’m never going to tire of seeing you fight those things, Frisk.”

It was Frisk’s turn to grin sheepishly humble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk's weapon of choice is inspired by Wonder Woman's lasso!


	9. Plan, Plan, Plan…

**_ Chapter 8:  _ ** _ Plan, Plan, Plan… _

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“—so you’re saying, theoretically, we could create a device to use on the other end?”

“Y—Yeah.”

“alphy, you’re a genius!”

The lizard woman flushed at the praise.

“so, how does it work?”

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“So, one of you will need to travel through?” Asgore questioned, to which Sans and Alphys nodded.

“The—The person would then need to get both F—Frisk and Flowey to hold onto the de—device with them and p—poof! They’ll all be back here like nothing—nothing ever happened. At—At least, that’s what we hope.”

“Hope?” Toriel questioned, tone ice.

Sans flinched. “well, we can’t be sure how much time has passed for them. for us it’s been a week, seven days, but on the other side of the machine, it could have been seconds, could have been hours—weeks, or even…even years. we have no way of telling.”

Toriel sat, hands linked tightly together. She took a breath and exhaled. “Frisk and Flowey’s safety is more important, whether that is true or not, won’t change.

“So—” Undyne crossed her arms. “Which of us are goin’ through, ‘cause I’d like to put my name down.”

“you and me then.” Sans waved a hand. “We don’t know what’s on the other side, like we said, so two is better than one.”

Undyne punched her palm with a wide grin. “I’d like to see whatever is there try and go up against me!”

“It’s settled then.” Asgore spoke softly. “Take as much time to prepare are you need.”

Sans wanted to protest but—well, they really didn’t have any idea what was the other side. But it didn’t matter because they were going to get Frisk and Flowey back _no matter what_.

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“alphys, you did good.”

“ _We_ did g—good Sans.” She gave him a pointed look. “We both know—know you’re not an idiot.”

“heh.” The skeleton didn’t meet her gaze.

Alphys sighs and handed over the device. “It only has enough battery for two journeys. There and back, don’t do anything reckless.”

“Nyah!” Undyne rushed in, wearing a lighter modified version of her old armour. In fact, Sans himself had some protective gear on provided by Alphys too.

_(“Con—considering your HP.” She offered.)_

Sans and Undyne shared a glance and stepped towards the machine.

“R—Ready?”

“You betcha!”

“go ahead, Alphys.”

The lizard scientist took a deep breath and pulled the lever, the machine powered up and—a white portal opened.

They walked through without hesitation.

_Hold on Frisk, we’re coming._


	10. Amen…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: This chapter includes a panic attack and suicidal thoughts. Frisk isn't in a very good mental place.

_**Chapter 9:** Amen… _

[14 years old]

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Huddled up and hidden within the large and numerous Echo Flowers that weren’t really Echo Flowers, Frisk sobbed; each rock of her body pulled agonisingly at her torso, forcing more tears to well up.

A vicious cycle.

Frisk clutched Papyrus’s scarf tightly in her fists, burying her face into it in an attempt to seek comfort where there was none.

She slumped to the ground, curling into a ball and moaned softly at the pain.

Throat tight and short sharp breaths, Frisk swallowed down each gut-wrenching sob as it wracked her body.

~~Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy—~~

She sucked in a breath and her chest spasmed, forcing her to choke on it.

~~Mummummummummummummummummummummumpleasemumithurts—~~

~~Justdiejustdiejustdiejustdiejustdiejustdiejustdieijustwantto—~~

Another spasm, her body shook.

~~Hurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurts—~~

Stomaching seizing, bile rose in her throat. Frisk swallowed, her throat _burned_.

But no—her body lurched as the bile was brought back up and the stomach acid—the only she had in it—was forced out.

Another.

~~Pleasesansineedyouwhatdoido—~~

~~Idon’tknowwhattodo—~~

~~Ijustwanttodie—~~

Rustling.

~~Ijustwanttodiewhycan’tijustdiewhycan’tijusthuh?~~

Even Frisk’s shattering and dark mind caught the sound. It stopped everything short, jerking her back into awareness uneasily and disorienting quickly.

Her body shook, eyes wide but unseeing.

Rustling.

There it was again…

Who was it?

Flowey? ~~NonogonegonegoneFloweyhadlefther—~~

Those creatures? ~~Toquiettoquiettoquiettoquiet—~~

So who?

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The rustling stopped.

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Silence.

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~~Whatwhatwhatwhatisitwhatwhatwhatwhat—~~

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“̸̛͉̉͑̔̎̌͊̃̓H̵̡̪͈̫̦͇̺̩͎̤̼̠̤̹͍̃̿̎̈́͗̓̅̈́̓̈́͝ḝ̶̫̲̖͔͍͔̩̗̫̩̟͑̎̔̇̅͛̚l̶̡̡̛̛̹̘̙̩̤̹͍̞͑̓̀̈́͆̍̽͛͒̕͝l̵̟̼̘̹̞̯̔͛̈́̾̓̒̀͒̓̕͘͝ơ̷͔̜̗͕̰̞̮̗̳̬̻̌̀̒̇́͂̋̚͝͠ ̷̪͋̉̂̽̐͂̚t̴̡̡̡͚̹̤̗̄́̐͒̾͛̊̒̂̏͗ͅḫ̸̢̙̺͇̩̩̰̺͚̖̣̋͛̏e̵̛̜̰̺͚̻͉͖̿̈́̽͜͠ŗ̵̥̜̉̾̓͒̐͐͂̈́̈́̒̕͘ě̵͎͘͝.̵̛̬̖̭̜̻̜̫̠̼̘̙͓̹̏͆̅̔̉̔̀ͅ”̵̡̡̫̦̜̙̩͙̻̟̯̇͋̽̉̎̀̏̒̚͘͠͝

She was ripped from the underbrush and Frisk screamed.

“̷͎͕̦̞͕̩̘̔̂͆̀͛̓̆̆̄͝ͅY̵̢̛̙͖̫̖͍̞̬̭͎̐̐̑̈́͋̈́̍͑̒͠o̴̧̢̮̥̣͍͙̗̲̒̐̂̚ứ̷̡̢̠̲̱̭̄̍̾͜͜r̷̢̨̖͉̙̖̗͓̿̂̎͝ ̸̖̘͕̤̰̜̗͔̱̬̥̊̽͒̎͆͊̊͝Ş̵͕̝͓̬̪̤̞̯̜̯̅̌͆̿̊́Ơ̶̡͇̙̗͚̤̼̺̳̮͍̹͍̰̞̔̀̅͛̃̄͗̕U̶̫̖̠̻͇̹͓͓̖̝̝͌̆͑̈́̓͌̎̃̆̈̆̒͘͜͝L̴̡̢͇͇̦̦̎̑ ̵̡̫̭̩͍̇ͅp̵̛͖̳̬̞̼̮̌ļ̷̫̞̦͎̘̮̰͔͉͍̪͉͕̒̚ê̴̡͍̳͔̞̳̪̜͇̱̾̋̐͋̄͊̏̔̃͝͝ă̶͔̳̪̝̝̜͎̍̔ͅͅs̷͙̣̗͖̪͔̻͔̿͜͝ͅe̶̮̟̖̙̟͕͉̮͋̈́͘̕͜.̵̨͔̩̙̯̖̲̘̭͔͔̀̋̃͂̒”̴̗͇̘̦͖̬̫̲̩̼̻̌̓̀́̅͋̈̾̓͊͑̆͜͠

NONONONONONONONONONONO—

She fought—she kicked—she screamed.

Whowhowhowhowhowhowhowho—

“̶̧̦̘̜̼̤̯̘͖͆̓̌͆̐͝͝D̵͈͎̭͍̘̪̱̭͈̻̻̄̏͛̊̓͊̂͜͝͝ö̷̳̬̜̬̤͚͓̳̮̹̝̞́̑̀͑͜ ̵̳̃̽̈́̇͘n̷̨̨̻̯̬̦̞̱̤̞̠̂̉̌͛̂̇́͛͆͋̎̀o̵̢͔̮̫̤͍̪͚̞͚̠̐̉̎͆̉͆̄̒̓͘͝ͅṫ̸̹̓ ̶̡̢̛̙̱̲̩̼̮̤̬̭̃̈͊̎̕f̴̨̟̱͙̝̬͔͇̥̮̪̖͓̩̿̐̀͐̕͜ĭ̶̧̨͈̩̠͎̭̣͈̞̩͋͌̆͜ͅg̸̼̻̜͕̩̙͑͛̃͋͛͠ͅh̶̡̞͐̈̓͐̊ţ̴͙͇̭̜̜̹̯͛̆̍͋̈͛̏̽,̸̛̩̉̾͌͒̍͑͋ ̴̡̺̼̖͙̖̳̗̞̹̮̻̄̄͂͜͜͜t̷̡̪͚͇̩̤̲̞̮͇̯̳̞̪͐̈̊̑h̵̢̬͎̫̲̭̜̟̬̾̈́̊̊͐̄̓̔͆̂̑̃͒̒i̶̭̜̝͎͎̠̻̜̟͎͋̏̔̾̕ͅs̷̡̧̢̛̲̣̘̎̾̽͗̄̐̎̿̾͐͝͠ ̸̧̦̈́i̴̧̯̪̠̘̥̲̺̣͕͍̦̖͖͐̀̕s̷̡̧͙͎̜͕͙͕̙̼̩̩̼̞͐̌̀͂͗̂͂̅̒̽̄̑͊̐͜ ̴̨͈̖̫͍͇̦͔͈͔͔͑̇͜f̵̛̼̈́̓̏̾͒̋̐͗̓̈́̕â̴̲̫̻̱͈̳̦̜̑͊͊͌͐̇̃̈̑͐͌͛͂͝t̶̨͙̦͕̪͍̻̰̪͕̩̻̘͇̍̈́̌ͅe̸̛͖͓͓͚͉͇̳̾̄̾̈́̉͝d̷̬̖̪̣͕͈̰̬̈̒̈́̍͒̓̎͂͜ͅ ̸̰͎̠̖͉̆͐͆̅͗̑̋̋̊́͑̅͘t̶̨̥̰̻̭̹͙̉͗͛̽̆̂̌̔͊͑͌͑̈́o̵̰̱̲͖̳̙͌͋́̔͐̈́͐͒͗̅̈́̕ͅ ̷̧̢̛͎̯̻͔͎̟̔h̵̢̛̹͔̜̬͇͙̞̤͇̣̦̮̞͂̈̂̈͒̃̈́̀̎̊͌̋͝å̷̟͉̺͉̺̻͉̽̚͘p̶̡̢̛̣̭̰̝͓̮̓̽̂͂̚p̶̡̨͇̥̜̲̹͈̤͍͐̕͜e̸͙͈͓͖̩̝̗͎̾͗̆͜n̵̯̰̙̎͌͐̈̎͊͂͘͝,̷̯͚͉̳͗̌̂̒͒̌͝ͅ ̷̛̠̹̻̤̗͓͙͇̹̟͍͔̲͙̖́͛͗̉̔͗̄̎̉c̷̬̜̟̩̥͊̄̈́̌̑́̏̚ḣ̶͇̤̭̻̹̱̹̜͕͍̱̦͙͉̓͐͐͝i̸̡̧̛̛̬̞͈͙̜̲̖̪̥͊̓̌̈́̒̽̆̍͛͝͝l̸̢̥̠̺̰̫̮̰̦͓̹͇̺͍̒͗͊̅͗̐͆̉̉̒̔̂͝͝ͅd̷̡̛̛̻̘̺͚̣̾̈͒̀͘͝.̷̘̳͓̙̫̓̓̕”̵̧͇̙͙̪͙̪͉̺̘̀̅͒͑̎̾

More screaming and—

The rush of water, the glow of the Echo Flowers, the blue river and—

Blue enveloped her.

Water closed in around her.

Despite the fear, the horror, and disoriented mind, Frisk held her breath as long as she could, too long in fact. Red and black splotches danced in front of her.

The coldness she had felt upon entering the water was completely gone. A desperate hot wave had consumed her.

Her heart was beating rapidly in panic. The urgency for air was more apparent than ever. There weren't red blotches in her field of vision anymore. It was all black.

She opened her mouth and—

She was ripped from the water.

“You’re not having her SOUL!”

~~Flowey?~~

Laughter.

Frisk fought for breath, coughing out the water that had managed to seeped in.

Flowey

Flowey

Flowey

Flowey

Flowey

~~Asriel?~~

Flowey

Flowey

Flowey

Flowey

Flowey

~~Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou—~~


	11. The Count Down Begins…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Count Down to the End has Begun...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter ;)

**_ Chapter 10:  _ ** _ The Count Down Begins… _

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Frisk absently fiddled with her necklace, a beautiful golden flower neckless from her parents, as she listened to the teacher recite a lesson she’d long since gone ahead to learn about herself. It was her first day back to school after everything that had happened with the Underground and even now, she could hear the attempted whispers of awe and jealously from her classmates.

Frisk didn’t pay them much mind, she had been prepared to expect it—a month had passed, everything with the government had kept her busy and she’d finally gotten to go ahead to return…

But Frisk didn’t enjoy school all that much—she was smart, there was no denying it and because of her old home life, she had plenty of time to learn and push herself to keep her busy. She had been a regular visitor to the library so much so that she was on first name bases with all most all the staff.

She wonders if she could talk to someone about her advancements compared to the rest of her grade. Perhaps they’d set some actually challenging work for her to test her brain with…

But in the end it wouldn’t matter in time…

However for now, maybe Sans could help her—he was a nerd and far more intelligent then he liked to show, the idiot. Honestly, she didn’t understand him half the time, even after all they’ve been through together.

Thinking about Sans brought a fond smile onto her face.

By the time the lunch bell arrived, Frisk was mentally drained from all the other kids that want to oh-so suddenly talk to her and befriend her—it made her feel bitter inside, because this is what it took for others to quote unquote _like_ her?

Ha!

So she camped out in the library, where very few kids want to spend their lunch and found a book to read while she ate her lunch. Mrs. William had always had a soft spot for her and allowed her to eat in here so long as she didn’t make a mess. Frisk adored Mrs William the most because she was the only one to actually care about her before all this.

When the end of the day finally arrived, Frisk was exhausted both mentally and physically and just wanted to go home and find some peace and quiet to let herself unwind.

A grin spread across her face when she saw a familiar skeleton waiting outside with his hands shoved into his pockets. He was ignoring the glances and whispers from the adults.

Frisk rush towards him, watching his perma-grin widen at the sight of her.

“Sans!” She threw her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest.

“ _oomph!_ whoa there kiddo.” Sans chuckled, arms returning the hug. “i’m glad to see you too, what’s up with the rush?”

Frisk tighten her grip with a quiet whine. “School’s exhaustion.”

“heh, guess we’ll just have to take a catnap when we get home, eh?”

Frisk peered up at him and beamed.

Sans Shortcut them.

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[20 years old]

Frisk watched the trees sail past below her. The brush of wind against her face felt amazing and quietly questioned why she didn’t fly with Wisp more.

An inquisitive rumble from Wisp made Frisk blink.

“Maybe start heading back home.” Frisk answered the nonverbal question. “It’s getting late, Asriel gets antsy when we’re out after dark.”

Wisp titled and turned to start heading east.

Hunters always did make more of an appearance after dark, like it was prime hunting hours or something—it made Frisk curious about why it was such a time when clearly they personally were never out after dark.

Maybe it was just so that the dark allowed more of them the ability to search a wider radius?

Even after these six years they’d been here, neither of them could pin point a specific reason.

Wisp slowly lost altitude until they skimmed the top of the treeline and Frisk watched as they flew over Snowdin. Then continued to watch it even once they had passed by, she turned to look over her shoulder with a frown and strange sense of… foreboding…

Frisk shook her head, it was probably nothing more than a Hunter—the magic they produced from the gems that powered them gave off a type of ambient magic that she’d learnt to search for. It was hard at first since it was so similar to what this place produced but over time and with more, unfortunate, exposure to them she’d gotten it down pat.

Her stomach rumbling and she hummed, reminded she’d never eaten lunch.

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The smell of the BBQ going was what rouses Frisk from her nap. She groaned and huddled back down to fall back to sleep, however, her body decided it didn’t want to and so Frisk was forced to slowly wake up.

Her lids felt crusty and her throat sore, she loathed the idea of rolling out of bed.

And when a soft knock at the door came, Frisk groan-whimpered in response. The door slowly opened and Frisk blinked bleary eyes at Toriel.

“My child.” The goat monster stepped in, gaze soft and she sat on the edge of the bed, gently brushing her fringe. “I’m sorry for disturbing you but you must eat. It will help you feel better.”

Frisk knew mum had a point and so she forced herself to sit up, eventually being led down stairs and outside. Frisk found a lawn chair to perch her butt in and curled up, pulling her blanket around her.

 _Being ill sucks ass_ , Frisk muffled a giggle into the blanket at the thought of mum’s scandalised gasp if she heard Frisk swear.

“Dear Friend!” Papyrus’ quote unquote indoor voice made her look up to see the taller skeleton brother had sat in chair beside her. “I Heard About Your Sudden Bout of Illness! I Am Glad To See You Up So Soon!”

Frisk smiled and croaked: “Hey Pap.”

“I Wonder What Caused You To Come Down With This!”

“sometimes humans just be like that, bro.” Sans blinked into existence in the empty chair the other side of her. “it’s their bodies way of learning and evolving to better care for themselves. but fevers aren’t really that _cool_.”

Frisk muffled her giggle at the pun and Papyrus groaned. “Hey Sans.”

“heh, jokes aside, you feeling any better, kid?”

“Better, I think.” Frisk stretched and it was followed by a yawn. Then she lean towards Sans and asked: “What do you give a dog with a fever?”

Sans blinked, eyelights flickering with amusement—especially when Papyrus groaned about Sans corrupting her and storming off. “dunno kid, what do you give a dog with a fever?”

She grinned. “Mustard! It’s the best thing for a hot dog!”

Sans laughed.

Distantly Papyrus yelled and Toriel giggled.

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.

Wisp reared onto their hind legs and with a nicker burst into a sparks of golden blue. Frisk dropped down on the settee with the groan and ruffled her hair. But then she paused at the strange silence—she hadn’t noticed it before but…

Her eyes found the unlit fireplace. Strange, they always left it going, even when out—the library got cold if not…

Frisk stood slowly. “Asriel?”

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Nothing.

She licked her lips and felt her heart pound.

Dread wormed its way into her chest.

He should have been back by now.

Frisk slowly began to backtrack toward the hallway.

The grand hallway was dark—lit only with moonlight that cascaded in from the just as grand patterned windows. The light crept along the floor and walls and the spaces between each window was—

Frisk narrowed her eyes, hand reaching for her lasso belt.

— _to_ dark.

She pulled the lasso free and— _there!_

Frisk launched herself out of the way of the bone attack.

"̷̨̲̝̥͚͕͖̬̠͔̝͈̰̥̿̋͒͗I̴̡̧̨̤̠̩͍̠̝̘͉̻̒͜͜͝ͅ'̸̛̻̱͔̦̙̝̖̹̹̲͎̾̈́̎̅͒̐̒͐͑̽͋͘͘m̸̨̢̲̖̼̘̙̺̺̹̞̆ͅͅ ̴̩̺̮̻̭̦̖̙͛̐̃i̴̲̦̘͖̭̔͛̍̉͠m̵̧̛͓̠̘̗̻̖̰̬̮̒̐̍̋̏͑p̷̮̞̳̻̈͊͒̄̍͊͂̋̔̚͠ř̵͈̞̗̥̻͔̎͌̓̀͒̍̾̈́̍̅̎̕͝e̸̛̛̪͎̞͔̝̝̻̱͋̓̔͆̿̋̈́̋̽s̸̰͌͋̔s̶̼͇̦̞̘̯̳͙̟̩̭̯͛̎̎̈̈́̌̐̅͠͝͝ͅͅe̷̢̢̨̨͖̦͈̠̰̫͖̒͐̽͗͋̉̒̂̀̿̑ḑ̴̬̤͙̟̲͔̖͍̖̹̩͕͇̐̿́͋͛͜͝.̶̧̨̡͎͕̮̣̪͓͎̤̠̩̹̫̔̍͆̎̍͐͘"̸̧̹̪̻̫͎̤̦̮̥̱͔̥͝

Frisk snarled and fed magic into the lasso. “Show yourself coward!”

Gaster simply chuckled, a chuckle that echoed throughout the hallway and a shiver crawled up her spine.

"̵̛͓̱̩͎̱̰̽̐͋̿̂͗͌͘͘Ȋ̷̦͍̘̞̤͚̱̰̪̩̇̓̇ͅ ̸͙̦̱̩̰͈͎͚̈́̾̅̏̆̾̎͛̋̿̑̀͝d̴̨̪̭͚̠̹̙̆͗̅̓̀̿̍̏̍̕ơ̴̼̓͂̈̽ň̷͇̠͗̑̏̆͌̓̀͑̅̚'̸̨̡̠͍͔̠̺̮̺̘̐͊̍̀̽͌̇̕t̴̪͍̪͓͙̖̻͇̞̃̌̂̐̈͌̌̊͌̏̕͠͠͠ ̷̨̢̮̖̪̳̘͉̦̰̬͓͒̈́̎̍͗͂t̷̛͖̠̺̭̥͕̗̍̆̉̑̓̃̎̊̈h̴̰̲͔͈̞́̈́͋̈͋̔̈́̕͠ỉ̵̢̝̌̿̓̄̿̓̾̂̎̏̾͆n̷̪̹̗͚̻͖̲̰͒̂̋̍̆͂͠͝k̵̨͇͍͉͉̃͐͑́̽̇̓̃͌̋̍̆̎̄ ̶̧̖̥̳̤̙̠͇͐͐͛͘̚ṣ̵̨̱͇͖̺̝̳̯̭̓̎͒͛͑͘͠ơ̴̛͓̰̤̺͉̙̈́̽̅͌̉͂̇̏͘.̷̧̨̟͕͉͚̘̝͇͎̗̥̫̦̟̇̂͆͂̊͝ ̷̧̘̖̘̭̖̲͈̊̐͘D̵̡͖̞̬̣͛͋͐͗̂̂̅̽̽̉̓̔ỏ̶̧͍̮̟̜̹̝͆̃̽̐̄̍̇͊͋̕͝͠͝ ̴̖̻̳̱͙͉̺̙͌̐̈́͂́̓̋̿̂͗ͅy̵̨̦̰̺̗̹͕̝̹̮͚͖̯̻̍̔̓̈̋̀͛̕͝͝o̶̧̧̧͚͎̺̼͙̞͍̝͍͂̏̿̿̀̍͛̊̎̉̈́͋͜͝͠ų̶̡͎̠̪̭̳͙͗͋̃͆͂̓͐̎̎̆̚ ̸̹̗̗͒͂̈̌̾͘̕͠ţ̸̛͚̝̠̯͖͖̙͑̎̅̐̆͑̍̍ẖ̸̭̫̖̯̖͆̀̿̋̾̀͋ĭ̴̙̜̜̬̠͝n̵̡̛̳̩̙̻͉̺̦̝͚̞̬̗̤͌̃͌̒̚ķ̶̖̝̹̻̲͓̰̬̹̙͂̓͗̏̓̑ ̴̡̺̯̜͈̠͈̟͚̱͈̟̙̐̐͜I̴̬̍͒͐̀́͛͛̔̐̇̉͝͝ ̷͈͙̮̞͋̆̆͐̏̇̓̂̌͌̚͜͠ͅạ̵̡͉͔̋̆̆̿͂͆̆̈́̒̔͑͂̅̚m̴͈̪̼̰̈ ̶͈͍̠̳̳̜̋̾̐͌͆̆́͌͆̂a̸͙͉̗̞̲͇̪̥̣͔̤̳̝͒̉ ̷͖̣̠̩̰̣̯̠̫͚͖͈̲̠̙̾̅͗͌̉̄͝f̸̻̣̯͙̫̤̫̞̝̻͔̈́̒̽̒͜͝o̷̺̜̰̬͖̯͎͆̈́̔̌̌̒̏̑͝o̴͚̬̭̱͉̣̱̥͑̐̄̈̌̿̽̐͂̅̽́̚l̵̟̲̲̩̣͙̬̬̹̘͙̙̈́͑͆̈̌̓̋̔?̵̹̳̤̻̖̭̭̯̺͖̝͎̤̈́̑ ̸͇̜̫̭͖͓̹̳̝̝͗̇̔͑̏T̶̳͙͓̩̝̺̝̬̭̪͙̼̎̄̈̒͂̑̕h̵̺͉͕͕͗̈̇̓̽̎̐͊͝ă̴͖͚̅̃͒̊̒̅̚t̸̨̙͠ ̴̢̺̺̬̱̰̖͕̽Į̵̤͕̘̿ ̸̩̖͙͍͚̫̘̪̞̯͖̓̄̎͛̏͜͝ẇ̸̨̫͕̤̪̬̱̯͙̮̪̲̹̥̀̿͋̚ọ̷̧̧̱̪͉̗͂̂̑͗ū̶͎̬̲͖͎͕͑̊͂̂͛͝͠l̵̨͔̬̗̝̤͇̭̬͇̣̠͒̉̂̐̀̇̓́̊̋̋͜ḋ̷̲̺̹͇̩̙͍̥͍̣͆ ̸̢̢͙̥̮͕̘̥͎͔̊͋ͅͅg̶̭͖͖̲͔̤̉̔͌̐̇̒̓̓̈́̏̕̕͝ͅi̷̢̛̭̣̬͎̙̠͈̹̤̼̤̼̫̋̓̓̅͜v̵͇̤̞͇̭̥̞̯̝̥̔͂e̷̢̜͚̯͕̹̲̍̔͜ ̵̡̧̝̼̦̖͚͕̎̋̓̍̽̋̃̄̽̽̆̚͠ŷ̵̤͉̂̅̒͑̔̆̔́̏̅̃o̸͇̻̖͚̲̗̫̜͎͎̫̻̯̤͛́u̸̻͋̅̈́̒̌̈ ̵͉͈̘͔̭̪͉͌̄̑͋̄̐s̶̡̧̻̘͇̗̝͖̻͖͓̖̎̆̓͗̈́̔̍̈́͂u̵̧̻͓̟̫͔̲̗̥͔̬͖̹͓̦͊̑̌͆͘c̵̩̓͊͑̓́̌̓́̕̕͜͠h̴͇̭͓͉͙͕̪̱̽ ̶̩͕̮̯͎̊͗̒̓̎̈͗a̶̺̬̪̽͊̋̉̌̀͛̌͌̆̓̇͘ͅṋ̶̡̳̱̹̹̠̱̓̓͐͌̓̏̽̽̉̆͠͠ͅ ̵̱̦̤̟͔̰̙͑̐̄͊̽͂̆͒̈́ȃ̴̼͈̝̝̞̜͔̠͈̝̼̬̓̽̍̈͛̃̇̋̒̽͘͜͝d̵̤̟̲̱̩̣͇̠͙̜̯͔̔̔͗̃ͅv̴̝̟̄̈́͜a̶̧̛̞̦̘͍͓̼̳͋͆̚ņ̵͍̤͎̻̤́̇͊̆t̵̛̹̠̭̯̙͔̂̏̉̂̒̋̐̄̍̆͋͐̚á̷͕̙̞̺̒̂́̂̈̈́̑̚g̶̢̛̰͚̖̱͕̲̣̰̻̘̈́̓͋͊͋͆̊̄̾̀̐̅̕͝ͅȩ̸̧̛̜̥̼̰̭̫͈̞͖̭̱͖̙̏͗͗̽̈͆̇͘?̷̦̻̘̲̪̠͖̰̆̒"̷̗͔̗͔̿̇͝

She gave a hissy snicker. “It was worth a try.”

Frisk dodged another but—

_“Argh!”_

A bone pierced right through her chest.

Frisk choked and—collapsed to the ground, gurling on the blood as her body spasmed.

Eyes rolling, body seizing, the last thing Frisk heard was demonic laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised I never said what Wisp looked like before.
> 
> Here they are:  
> They're inspired/influenced by a few different things. I tagged that magic is influenced by things one holds close to their SOUL, so the skull aspect is the skelly-bros, Frisk's desire for flight and her love for horses. I've never mentioned the latter two before, it didn't fit anywhere.
> 
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/162867732@N02/50189871636/in/dateposted/)  
> 


	12. Arrival…

**_ Chapter 11: _ ** _ Arrival… _

.

.

.

With a flash of light and an accompanied feeling of nausea, Undyne and Sans found themselves in— _Snowdin?_ What?

“What the hell is this?” Undyne barked in surprise.

Sans was in a similar state of shock, wide eyesockets searching their snowy surroundings—it was Snowdin but it looked…different. Only half-built and it was completely void apart from the buildings…

“maybe it’s a reflection of the underground.” Sans theorizes aloud with a frown but that explained almost _nothing_. “hopefully we’ll find some answers around here.”

“You’re right.” Undyne crossed her arms and they made note of what options they had—head towards where the Ruins should be, or towards Waterfall?

“there seems to be more to explore heading to waterfall.” Sans commented. “start there?”

Undyne, hands on her hips, frowned thoughtfully. “The path towards the Ruins seems to be different too. So best head for what we know, right?”

They shared an acknowledging glance and turned to head through Snowdin and for Waterfall.

.

.

They don’t get far before they run into their first problem.

The beast appears almost out of _nowhere_ —

It snarls; the black mass that made it up writhing angrily.

“The fuck—!”

They dive out of the way, Sans summons pointed bones and launched them at the thing—they do almost nothing apart from physically, but momentarily, slowing it down.

Undyne throws a spear with a war cry and again it does nothing but gets stuck in the black mass.

Then—

There was a glint that reflected the glow of Undyne’s spear.

A stone?

It was the only other thing on that thing— _maybe_?

Sans summoned a Gaster Blaster and fired.

The beast yowled and they watched as the black mass disintegrated. The stone dropped to the ground.

Undyne plucked it up to reveal it had cracked down the centre.

“What the fuck was the thing?” She questioned.

Sans just took a breath, trying to slow his pounding SOUL. “best prepare for more of them.”

Undyne grunted and dropped the stone.

But what they didn’t expect when they turned around was a goat monster stood there, gawking at them in shock.

They tensed.

“Oh stars.” The goat-monster breathed. “ _Holy shit_.”

“Who are you!” Undyne demanded, spare pointed in the goat-monster’s directions.

Sans absently summoned some bones.

“Fl—Asriel!” He blurted. Sans froze. “Flowey! I mean Flowey! I’m Flowey! I _was_ Flowey!”

“Unlikely! Flowey’s a damn flower!”

“undyne.” Sans interrupted, de-summoning his bones. “He’s telling the truth.”

Undyne made a confused sound as Asriel sighed in relief.

“kid.” Sans moved forward, eyeing Asriel up and down, keeping his shock back to focus. “what happened?”

Asriel shifted nervously. “Uh, a lots happened.”

“Make it snappy!” Undyne barked.

Asriel winced. “I well, it’s… it’s… for us.” He stuttered. “It’s been… a few years for us.”

Sans’s SOUL froze but simultaneously he was flooded with relief— _both of them_.

“how many.” He asked, dreading his next words.

“…Six.”

Six.

 _Six years_.

Twenty. Frisk would be twenty. Holy shit. Holy fuck. The kid was an adult—how much has she seen? How much has she gone through? W h e r e i s s h e?

“Six years!” Undyne screeched, Asriel flinched, eyes widening.

“Be quiet! We don’t want to attract any more Hunters!”

“is that what they are then? hunters?” Sans questioned, desperate for something to calm his racing mind before he could panic.

“S’what we called them considering all they do is hunt us down.” Asriel shrugged half-heartedly as he scanned their surroundings nervously but eased up when nothing came running at them.

“I’ll take you to our hideout. It’s a bit of a walk though. Frisk should be there when we get back, she should have completed her rounds by now.”

.

.

.

As they march through the abandoned Snowdin, Asriel tries to explain what they’d figured out about this realm but really—neither of them had any idea apart from a few key points:

1)There was no physical exit from this Underground

2)Some places matched the underground but during different time periods

3)There was surface places

4)The hunters were the only danger here but there was other wildlife

And 5) You can’t die.

You can’t die.

You can’t die.

You can’t die.

You can’t die.

_You can’t die._

_ You can’t die. _

_ Y o u c a n’ t d i e. _

**_ Y o u c a n’ t f u c k i n g d i e. _ **

Sans wanted to throw up.

Undyne didn’t look any better.

Asriel visibly fights tears—it was then Sans finally notices the small but thankfully minor patches where Asriel had scars, fur no longer growing from the damaged skin.

And all he can think is: w h e r e i s F r i s k a n d w h a t h a s h a p p e n e d t o h e r?

Neither of them ask about Frisk—no words would leave his mouth even if he tried.

No one says anything else during the entire journey and thankfully they don’t encounter another one of these Hunters. They enter Waterfall and the rushing of the river was a welcome change from the eerily quiet Snowdin.

“We’re not far out now.” Asriel informs quietly and Sans is reminded of Toriel and wonders what her and Asgore’s reactions will be when they return home with their son.

But most importantly: how was he alive? He had been a SOULless flower, it shouldn’t be _possible_.

They turn a corner and Asriel abruptly stops, Undyne almost walks into him.

“What the hell punk?”

The goat didn’t answer, just sucks in a breath and rushes forward in a panic. “Frisk!”

Dread hitting them, Sans and Undyne run after Asriel only to see something that made them stop short—

The entryway was covered in blood.

“FRISK!”

[*But there was no answer]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some rough sketches of what the Hunters look like:  
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/162867732@N02/50193195322/in/dateposted/)


	13. Check, One, Two, Three…

**_ Chapter 12:  _ ** _ Check, One, Two, Three… _

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.

.

She watched the sunset from her perch on the cliff edge.

Six months.

It had been six months since the final Reset and Monsters had finally gained the rights they so rightfully deserved. There was still plenty more yet to happen but—she’d done everything she could.

There wasn’t anything more she could do that anyone else couldn’t.

She smiled with a peaceful heart.

The feeling of the setting sun was warm on her skin and she soaked it up.

Almost fifteen years old and she’d already overcome obstacles that most would have abandoned long ago. Most children her age would sit beside their parents and bask in their love, have comfort when they needed it and sleep a full nights rest without a care in the world.

Sleep didn’t come to her, not without struggle anyway.

But she’d finally tied up all her loose ends. Chara was gone. Flowey was (heh) growing into a better person. The Monsters could finally live the lives they should have always had.

When they’d emerged the final time, she’d looked to Asgore and accepted his proposal to become the Ambassador.

When Toriel came to her, she accepted to live with the woman that has become a mother-figure to her.

Frisk knows she shouldn’t have accepted the offer from the monster that had become like her mother because—Toriel had already lost so many children.

And Frisk was only going to be adding another tally to the list.

It had been her plan from the very beginning because the freedom of the Monsters had been her fate, the sole reason she’d been created. That had been her _purpose_ and she’d finally completed her reason for existence.

She could finally _rest_.

…She had taken every day until now with an open heart, and hope soared when new possibilities appeared. Seeing everyone so happy, enjoying the changes she’d had no part of and seeing him smile; seeing him realise they’d never reached this point before.

She could tell Sans hadn’t completely believed her when she’d told him this was the final Reset.

But as time went on, it was easier to prove it to him.

Frisk smiled again, heart fluttering softly at the thought of Sans’ smile, at the thought of his happiness.

Her biggest regret now would be no final apology; no true resolution between them.

.

.

.

.

Frisk chuckled at the irony.

“Can’t sneak up on me anymore, Sans.” She chimed. Peaceful heart turning heavy.

This wasn’t how she wanted it to go.

“no idea what you mean, kid.”

She huffed softly.

“so, whatcha doing all the way out here?” There was an edge to his tone that Frisk didn’t miss.

“Watching the sunset.” It wasn’t a lie. Just half the truth.

“don’t mind if I join ya?”

_No, go home to Papyrus, Sans. You shouldn’t be here._

“Sure.”

.

.

.

“Sure.” Frisk slurred quietly under her breath, delirious from blood loss and the agony of her wounds.

Gaster ignores the nonsense babbling Frisk was making in favour of clamping a thick metal collar around her throat.

Frisk jerked, choking on blood as she felt the collar sap at her magic— _no, no!_

Gaster only snickers at her weak writhing.

While the bone that had pierced her heart had long since been removed, there was instead two thrust through her thighs, halting any sort of movement—if it was even possible at that moment.

The hole in her chest wasn’t yet healing itself and Gaster took great delight in observing the beating heart he could see inside her chest. His attack had just missed the organ, shattering her sternum and slicing her spine.

Even now, as her spine knitted itself back together before his eyes, her legs trembled uncontrollably, blood dribbled from her mouth and her breathing was short, sharp and barely there.

But she wouldn’t die—Gaster pondered on the idea of performing some experiments on the human, he’d always longed to see just how they worked inside.

However, Gaster also knew Asriel would come racing for her when he discovered the bloody scene they’d left behind. _But that was what he wanted_.

They would both be here and he could finally piece back together that DETERMINED SOUL.

He snarls at the reminder of the brat’s actions—she’d cost him one escape already; he had been so _close_.

Freedom had been within his grasp but now, once more, it was back in his hands.

.

.

.

“—Chara isn’t with me anymore. He’s finally gone, has been for as long as we’ve been free.”

He eyed her at the revelation. “gone in what way?”

“Passed on from what I gathered. Gave up. Didn’t see the point in continuing knowing I’d fight him every point of the way.” She gave a dopy smile, her body hadn’t been stolen from her again— _couldn’t_ be stolen from her anymore.

Sans gave a short chuckle and Frisk turned her eyes to him.

“It’s a big victory Sans.” She whispered for a reason he didn’t understand. “No more Resets.”

The skeleton looked over at her before averting his gaze.

“can’t promise that kid.” He offered her his hand to pull her up. She let him and she smiled up at him. “I can.”

She threw her arms out, smiling off into the distance where the sun was finally reaching the horizon, looking so happy and yet melancholy at the same time. “Flowey is the only other one who could use the power. I don’t need it anymore, Sans. I got the best ending for everyone. Everyone is free and happy and I did what I needed in order to make sure you would be alright. I don’t have any reason to go back. My purpose is over.” Her eyes never parted from the sun, cherishing the sight for what it was. “There’s no other reason to be here.”

Her words set the skeleton on edge immediately. Sans knew whatever she was up to wasn’t anything good.

“kid…what are you talking about?"

.

.

.

Gaster turned his attention to the DT extractor, a remodelled version at least. He’d had plenty of time to upgrade and fix any mistakes that might have lingered in the machine at the time this snapshot had been taken.

He smiled— _finally_.

He was finally going to be _free_.

No one would be able to stop him now.

.

.

.

Grinning from ear to ear, Frisk clasped her hands behind her back as she took a step backwards. “Don’t mess it up, I’ll be watching.”

Another step.

Frisk watched the awareness leak into his eyelights.

Then without hesitation, he snatched her arm and pulled her into his embrace. “ **d o n’ t y o u d a r e**.”

His grip tightened before fiercely meeting her eyes. The distinct anger on his face was expected, she knew he’d be angry at her but beside the anger was _panic_ and _hurt_.

“you think this will solve everything, frisk? killing yourself and somehow cancelling out the reset? you can’t believe that throwing your life away will make everything better. it won’t. _we_ won’t.”

So Frisk admitted to him, after all these Resets, after all this time knowing him, just how she ended up in the Underground. “This wouldn’t be the first time.” Her face, her voice, is serious. Because she is. This decision isn’t hard to make.

This decision had been with her for a long time now. It had been with her since the moment she understood what death meant and how it happened: _she was ready_.

His grip slacks, he stops breathing and he stares are her.

“Sans. How do you think I found the Underground in the first place? Who the hell would come out into this supposedly haunted forest? Not someone that wanted to be found.”

He stared, eyesockets wide and Frisk stepped back, easily slipping from his loose embrace, his arms fell to his sides. His disbelief stunning him too much—a moment she used to her advantage.

“I’m tired, Sans, _always_. Nothing has changed that. Meeting everyone and having them in my life doesn’t suddenly fix the fact I have no self-worth, doesn’t fix the fact of just how much _I hate myself with every fibre in my body_.”


	14. Tell me more, Tell me more, Did you get very far…

**_ Chapter 13: _ ** _ Tell me more, Tell me more,  _ _ Did you get very far _ _ … _

.

.

.

“We’ve got to go after her!”

“Where is she?”

“what took her?!”

“We don’t have time!”

“we have to make time! we can’t just run in!”

“She’s in real danger, Sans!”

“Sans is right, punk! We can’t just charge in! So slow down and explain!”

.

.

.

.

.

When we arrived in this place, we were terrified. We’d just been sucked through the damn portal and dumped into some sort of copy of Snowdin.

( _Frisk hyperventilating made Flowey scowl in annoyance, why couldn’t she get a grip?_ )

It didn’t take long for me…uh, Flowey me to start going off to vent my annoyance and—well, we attracted the Hunters quickly. I was a coward and left her.

[“What the fuck!” Undyne snarled.]

[Sans clearly tried to not glare in anger.]

I—I don’t know how she got away from it since _y’know_.

[He laughed bitterly.]

But when I’d finally gotten a grip, I went searching for her and…

I didn’t know who he was at the time, but I figured it out _real_ quick when he told us his name.

( _He threw the Monster away from them, using another vine to quickly pull Frisk from the water, listening as she choked and threw up. The monotoned Monster laughed, the sound distorted and duel-toned_.)

(“Who the hell are you?!” Flowey snarled.)

( _“"̷̨̨̛͙̜̬̮͍̜̮̦̄͋͐̅̎̉̌͑̓̌͜M̷̻̰̖̜̤͚̫̑̽̇͒y̵̢̰̮͚̘͉̓̈́̈́̌̀͜ ̶͉̞̖̳̥͖̇̇̈́͌̇̒́̐̚͘͜n̵̦͌̈́̌ą̶̡̢̛̼͇̜͚̩͚͊̓̇͆͝m̶̡̢̢̬̮͖͕̺̩̯̪̠͛̀̒͒̇̐̍̐̐̅͘è̶̡̛̟̪̞̘̪̳̼͇̘͙̫̦̈́͛̿̐̃̉̓̎̽́̒͝?̴̧̢͖̭̳̪̦̏̎ ̸̛̜͔̟̈̽̈́͆̆̉Y̵̢̛̛̜̺̲͈̫̲̞̞͍͊͑̽͌̂̈́͘͜ͅo̶̞͓̫̪̝͍͎̤̟̹̯̳̞̓̋͑̏̈́̚̕͜͝ͅu̶͇͈̟̺̤̹̘̮̥͍̬͌̃͜͝ ̵̢̛͎̠̱̏̏̊̄͆̓̿̎͠m̷̢̢͍̲͙̝̰̫̩̺̖̪̠̻͑̈̈́͐́͒̐͒̓͐̀͊͝ͅa̷͍͕̯̜̺̪̦̮͐͆̎͋̓̌͆͜͠͝y̸̨̛̘͎͖̿̓͝͝ ̶̣̤̮̄̈́̄̈́̊͗̌͌̑̕͠c̴̛̠̙͇̔͐a̷̛͍̩͍̋̅̈́̽̉̏̔͌̌̎͜͠͠l̵̨̗̞̻͔̫̯͇̘͙̤̗͉̒̑͌͜ͅĺ̷̢̙̫̫̯͍̭̹͂͂̑̆̎̽̽͌͘̕͘ ̴̻̓͛̄̿̓͠͝m̵̰͖̻̤̼̂̓̈̇͗ę̴̛̫̙͙̘̮̘̗̲̻͂̇̌̽̍͘̚͝ ̵̡͍̮̤̙̥̜̞̫̝͕̥̗̔̈́͆͆͌̽̍̓̓̚̚ͅĞ̸̨̣̮̖̗̬͓̮̺̝̍̈͒͛̑̂a̵̧̲̳̗͆̌s̸̳̫̜̠̺̟͂̆̇̌̌͆͜t̵̛̛̻̯̪̜̦̝̠͇͊͠ͅȩ̶̧̮̼̲̗̦̰̳̦̰̩̪̓͌̐̉̀̂̽̽̚͝͝ŗ̷̛̛̫̻̬̈́̃͆̀̌͛̈́̓̍͘̕.̴̨͙̯͎͙͔͔̝̦́̍"̶͔̜̰̞͚̐_ )

[Sans sucks in a sharp breath, eyesockets wide in horror. “gaster?”]

[Asriel nervously nodded.]

[“Who the hell is Gaster?” Undyne questioned.]

[“he was the royal scientist before alphys.” Sans explained. “i…worked with him briefly before quitting and moving to snowdin to raise papyrus. he was…obsessive, drove himself mad and one day he just—vanished. but I suppose we know where he went. the machine was originally partly his design.”]

[“What does he want with Frisk?”]

He made it abundantly clear he wanted her SOUL. Something about the fact her DETERMINATION was the final thing he needed to escape. His escape relied on stealing her SOUL and somehow using it but—it would kill Frisk in to process.

It’s already almost happened once before when she was sixteen.

[“what happened?”]

He—she—this library is a Mage one. It’s filled to the brim with books on human magic and—Frisk found a book that…that would protect her SOUL.

It…

It required…

[Asriel shuddered, phantom feelings of his resurrection hitting him.]

[“it required what?” Sans voice is cold.]

[Asriel met his eyelights.]

She brought me back to life by offering a piece of her SOUL up.

.

.

.

.

[*Flowey?]

[Frisk?! What’s happening!?]

(The feeling she was smiling hit him.)

[*It’s okay. You trust me, right?]

~~Trust?~~

~~Trust?~~

~~Trust?~~

~~Trust?~~

~~Trust?~~

~~TrUsT hEr?~~

.

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[I do.]

[*Thank you for your belief in me.]

[*Here. Please don’t waste it.]

(She giggled softly.)

Waste it?

Waste what?

[*A piece of my SOUL silly.]

.

.

.

.

[Sans and Undyne sucked in a breath.]

I don’t know how she did it.

[Asriel laughed in disbelief.]

As far as I’d known, Frisk had only overlooked what exactly it meant to resurrect someone—even then, my case, it wasn’t exactly a normal one, you know?

But she did it, I suppose her DETERMINATION isn’t something to take lightly, eh?

But, by splitting her SOUL into two, Gaster wouldn’t be able to steal it. He’d have to work hard and take both of us down to steal both parts and even then, we don’t know if they could be put back together.

And so, here we are. He’s expecting me. He knows—he knows I won’t leave her.

He knows I’ll come get her back and that’s what he’s counting on.

[Undyne grinned. “I know what we should do.”]

[Her devious look made the cogs in their brains (or metaphoric one for Sans) start turning.]

[“what, undyne?”]

[“How about we give him what he wants?”]

[Confused, Asriel and Sans shared a look.]

[“Listen closely, got it? Cause if you’re right, we don’t know how much time Frisk has.”]


End file.
